A short documentary created by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) on a 2016 oil spill has won a special jury award at the 52nd WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.
On March 10, 2016, a 15,487-tonne cargo ship owned by TS Lines Co that carried 392 containers — nine of which contained hazardous substances — and 505 tonnes of fuel and oil ran aground about 250m off New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門), polluting the sea and coastal area.
The 21 crew members aboard the TS Taipei were quickly rescued, but National Airborne Services Corps pilot Lin Chen-hsing (林振興) and coast guard member Tsai Tsung-ta (蔡宗達) died during a rescue operation the next day, when a helicopter piloted by Lin crashed into the sea.
Photo courtesy of the Environmental Protection Administration
The 13-minute film, produced by the EPA and Geographic Information Technology Co, details efforts to clean the spill and remove the ship over 159 days.
It also includes a scene in which residents blast the government for being unable to completely extract the oil and compensate tourism losses.
The scene occurred at a meeting on the 16th day after the incident with then-premier Simon Chang (張善政), who asked them to think about the two sacrificed rescuers.
The producers received the award last week at a ceremony in Houston, Texas.
Department of Water Quality Protection Deputy Director-General Liu Jui-hsiang (劉瑞祥) yesterday said that the award is an honor, but it is painful to recall the incident.
It was the most serious instance of marine pollution in 10 years, he said, adding that the EPA had mobilized more than 10,000 people to clean up the spill.
Nonetheless, it is great to see that Shihmen’s coastal area has been restored to its former beauty after months of toil, he said, adding that it was also a valuable experience setting up a response mechanism for such a large-scale pollution incident.
Management of marine pollution has been transferred from the department to the Ocean Affairs Council, which was established last year, Liu added.
An English-language version of the film can be accessed at https://youtu.be/IZUWzGJyENM.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
RSS